80°

Slightly Mad Studios seek investment for PS4 Project CARS

VVV: "Now, though, it seems that the prospect of Project CARS being ported onto PS4 is indeed a possibility, as Ian hinted at future investment plans: "First up will be the PS4 and Durango versions opened for investment. Yes, I said INVESTMENT. ", he continued. "I should also mention that we're now official PS4 developers."

4016d ago Replies(1)
jimbobwahey4016d ago

Glad to see this coming to next gen consoles, should do a nice job of keeping PlayStation/Xbox fans happy until next gen versions of Forza and Gran Turismo release.

ABizzel14016d ago

Forza is suppose to be a lunch title, and Drive Club (composed of some of the best developers from every racing team out there) is suppose to be a launch title for the PS4, so I think their car fix will be catered to.

But it's always good to have variety and quality.

level 3604016d ago

Think console owners wouldn't have to put up with WMD scheming as PC counterparts.

WMD is a one-way-street and the losers are those poor gamers' shelling out their hard earned salaries/monies.

cyril sneer4016d ago

If pc gamers didn't shell out there money it wouldn't likely be coming to console so you should be glad they did as it's looking good.

Larry L4016d ago

I think you completely miss the point of the sim racing fans who "invested" into this game. I guarantee 99% of them didn't invest their 20 or 50 or however much it was, with the thought of investing in it in the sense of making money. These are just Sim Racers who are really just paying to be a ble to have early access to a great new sim racing titles, and they also get the oppotunity to help mold the game to be as perfect of a sim as possible for the actual type of gamer who will really be playing this game Day 1.

It's an investment in being able to say "Yeah, I helped make that as good as it is."....assuming it does turn out as good as it's potential. For the larger investors who actually have the opportunity to share in the profits of the game.....I think the profits are sencondary....or even lower on the list of priorities.

It's a hyper realistic sim, so unless it's one of the few on consoles outside of Gran Turismo to sell millions of copies.....the chances for profit are slim anyway thinking realistically, and I'm sure that fact was pointed out to the profit-level investors.

sinjonezp4016d ago

Did they not receive a truck load of money from donations and direct investors? While I love this studio, how much more money and time they need? Like some say this may be vaporware. I hope not and its truly successful. Considering ps4 is x86, porting shouldn't be a hassle. Here's to optimistic thinking

Larry L4016d ago

I think they reached their target investment funding which was 3.75 million or somewhere around there, and then cut off the investment oppotunities saying "thanks, but no more".

That was their first bad move. They should have raised more knowing that whatever they raised would be matched. More=better when it comes to budget to make a game. 3.75 million is NOTHING to what it costs to make a racing game with such high detail and realistic physics. Especially if they want to run with Gran Turismo. GT5 cost 60 million if I recall (though they made that back just on the sales for the fund-raiser: GT5 Prologue.

They need ALOT more than even the double 3.75. And as for the time it tales, that's the same story. It takes a LONG time for each car for things to actually be realistic. AGain just look at GT5 for a time comparison.....and PCars is shooting for an even higher standard. Even with the much smaller roster of cars.....it's gonna take a LONG time to finish this game. I don't expect it any time before Fall 2014. The PS3 and 360 versions are just going to end up being a waste by then, unfortunately. Maybe if they're lucky porting PS3 code over to PS4 won't really cost any extra money or time if Sony did a great job on the dev kits, and the wierd and unfortunate timing of this game's dev cycle won't hurt their profit margains too much.

Skate-AK4016d ago

Shouldn't be to hard to get the investment. Cerny said it should only take a couple weeks instead of months to port from PC to PS4.

170°

Why did EA Kill Project CARS?

This video explains why we think Electronic Arts didn't see a future in the sim racing title Project CARS and promptly cancelled the fourth instalment.

Jin_Sakai530d ago

After the last installment I’d say most hardcore fans left. It’s just not that good anymore so I can’t really blame EA this time.

masterfox530d ago

because it was always a project and it never got finished :D

ChubbyBlade528d ago

Every game is a project. Your joke doesn’t make sense

InUrFoxHole527d ago

It makes perfect sense. It's obviously a play on the title. Jesus christ you must be a blast at parties.

ApocalypseShadow529d ago (Edited 529d ago )

Ask Bullfrog or Black Box or Tiburon or Studio 33 or Criterion or any of the previously acquired developers who made racing games as competition, or as developers of EA games, then eventually dissolved into oblivion or reassigned. Just ask them. They'll tell you why.

ApocalypseShadow528d ago

Oh. I forgot. Even Code Masters were absorbed into Criterion. Another racing developer EA took over.

Every racing developer either absorbed by EA or eventually destroyed by them. They either kill competition or have them in the end make Need 4 Speed for them.

MadLad528d ago

EA only cancels projects for one reason.
They didn't see enough money in it.

Kombatologist528d ago (Edited 528d ago )

Not when it's because it didn't meet some crazy margin. It's like if something doesn't make EA a billion dollars on day one (I'm exaggerating that figure of course), they swiftly put it out to pasture.

SurgicalMenace528d ago (Edited 528d ago )

Much like if you're spending money on what's a bad investment for your desired goals, you'd do away with it, if you're wise. We should try to get away from thinking we know more about business than individuals that have been doing it for decades. Perhaps you could benefit from going into business instead of wasting all of your talents in comment sections. It's clear that you're the missing piece that EA's been looking for.

MadLad527d ago

I've made a good amount of money betting on underdog investments over the years.

EA sets unrealistic expectations of their more niche developers, yet continue to fund absolute blunders like DICE and the Battlefield series year after year.

dumahim528d ago

EA butted in and messed with the formula and act shocked when it doesn't work out.

Show all comments (16)
90°

Original Project CARS creator trying to re-hire EA team

Ian Bell, the founder of Slightly Mad Studios, is aiming to hire former Project CARS employees to work on his upcoming GTR Revival project.

Sgt_Slaughter531d ago

If it's just going to be another sim-cade that doesn't do either one correctly then no thanks.

Project CARS 2 was a step in the right direction but the physics still aren't where they should have been, so what did they do for PC3? Go completely arcade. That killed the franchise.

220°

EA dropping Project CARS

From GI.biz: "EA is dropping Project CARS, GamesIndustry.biz can reveal.

The Slightly Mad Studios-developed series was launched in 2015, with EA confirming today that it has made the decision to "stop further development and investment" in the franchise.

The announcement was made internally and it's unclear at this stage to which extent staff could be affected. EA said that employees working on Project CARS will be moved into "suitable" roles "wherever [they] can.""

Read Full Story >>
gamesindustry.biz
Terry_B533d ago

Typical for EA. They buy studios that created nice games..and are sooner or later destroying them and move the people to work on the old same 5+ EA series.

italiangamer533d ago

They will put the developers on the 1000th Need for Speed for the rest of their entire careers, just like Criterion.

SurgicalMenace533d ago

To be fair, it's not EAs fault it falls directly on the consumer. Everytime these companies choose to drop a series they're met with backlash though the gamers didn't support said series enough to justify its continuation. Attempting to paint every company as evil all because they're in it to succeed is ridiculous. They have to make money just like each of us typing in this section. If a job wasn't supporting you well you'd quit and find a new one, this is the same mentality concerning series.

TheColbertinator533d ago

@SurgicalMenace

No it is their fault. They don't listen to fans and burn the franchise to the ground by introducing elements that nobody wanted instead of increasing support for said respected franchises.

I order a steak, they make a steak. 1st sale
I order a steak again, they vomit on my steak and charge me more for it. No sale.

EA in a nutshell.

Tapani532d ago

@TheColbinator Well how do you think they make the billions then?

Their fans ARE buying their games. You are just not their focus group, and I can guarantee their customer insights team is more thorough and detailed in their reaearch than any N4G commentors’ opinion on the matter. Otherwise EA would not exist as a company, and they’d be bankrupt.

deleted533d ago

The one that still hurts the most though was Criterion w the Burnout series. Acquired Criterion's tech for their own existing IP, then shut em down. It's basically parasitic. I sure do miss Burnout's crash mode!

Hofstaderman533d ago

Sounds eerily similar to another large unnamed corporation hey. I believe some EA bigwigs shifted to that company back in the day, would explain the similarities.

rlow1532d ago

Must be talking about Sony

peppeaccardo533d ago

and instead they come out with that piece of shit of Need for Speed which looks like an Anna & Barbera cartoon. C'mon .... PC2 was my go to game for VR racing and the first one i played for tens of hours. i was so lookiing forward to PC4 after that failure of PC3 ... what a shame EA, they are bombing all the good games and stick to the garbage ones. EA when you think you have reached maximum of disappointment they top it off with style .... screw them!

SurgicalMenace533d ago

Need for Speed continues to sell so why would they get rid of what's producing what they need to maintain stability?

EazyC533d ago

What they did to this series was idiotic. The premise was great -- a sim/simcade game that GENUINELY got developed in line with its community. There is a huge gap in the market for this...I mean, PD hasn't listened to fans at all over the last year with regard to simple Gran Turismo 7 tweaks. Sim racing fans are screaming for a title where they actually give a shit about their users.

Project Cars 2 was genuinely on to something, it just needed some refinement. But instead they followed up by selling off to EA with a braindead GRID clone with Project Cars 3. Again...idiotic.

SurgicalMenace533d ago

Well since you're the authority on properly managing a million dollar company, why don't you just call them to let them know of your divine wisdom?

Hardcore sim racers are the ones who are competing acrossed the globe, no company in their right mind would focus on a forever moving casual market. They have to focus on those dedicated to supporting their efforts. Notice how you're speaking from a perspective of self opposed to the collective. Perhaps they sold out because they, like us, needed the money knowing that they could reinvest it into something new. PC was a decent racer but very few people mainlined it over GT or Forza.

EazyC533d ago

I'm not a divine authority but I notice a pattern where these huge corporations turn completely tone deaf of what the "average fan" wants.

vallencer533d ago

Hate to break it to you but project cars 3 was published by Bandai in 2020. EA didn't buy codemasters, which owned slightly mad studios, until 2021. Either way the sales were super poor for the game and it's not surprising EA would just drop the game. BUT it still sucks because it's one less sim racing game on the market. Especially because the first 2 were really good.

Tzuno533d ago

and focuses more on cartoon network games

Show all comments (19)